Drawing Facial Features

Capture the features of the human face with riveting realism! Master the technical and structural elements behind a perfectly-drawn portrait.

Skill Level

Intermediate

What You Get

8 Streaming HD video lessons with anytime, anywhere access

Class materials

Hours of close-up instruction

Answers to student questions from instructor Gary Faigin

Closed captioning available (web only)

How it works

Once you purchase find your class in your class library.

Watch on any device anytime.

Find class materials in the class viewer.

Class Overview

Create a compelling portrait that captures the likeness of your subject and shows the range and depth of human emotion! With Faigin's guidance, you'll discover the fundamental forms of the skull and how to use basic ratios to accurately depict distinct facial patterns. Sketch a compositional study of the underlying structure of the face, and use gradual tonal changes to define the ridges and planes of your rendering. Learn to draw emotionally animated eyes and an authentic smile, and transform your portrait from flat to fully dimensional with highlights and shadows.

Taught by

Gary Faigin

Instructor

Gary Faigin wrote The Artist's Complete Guide to Facial Expression, which is now in its 17th printing and published in six languages. Trained at the Art Students League of New York and the École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris, he taught in New York for 15 years. He is co-founder and artistic director of the Gage Academy of Art in Seattle, where he teaches drawing and painting and leads art tours around the world with his wife, the architect Pamela Belyea.